The Guardian: Sacrifice

Prologue-

Ailonight sat silently in his room, his warm brown eyes drifting closed every few seconds, then jerking back open as he forced himself back into awareness. He wore a soft sleep shirt, the color of shadows on snow, and his long brown hair was mussed with sleep. He seemed to be waiting for somebody, but also seemed unable to keep himself awake. Eventually, the steady pound of angry footsteps caught Ailonight’s attention, and the young man brightened, his eyes becoming more aware. Zeero was on his way, and Ailonight wanted to be ready for him. He quickly ran a hand through his tangled hair, not that it did much good, and stood to greet his master, Jasphri’s High Priest.

The door to the room practically exploded open and slammed against the wall with a muffled bang, and Ailonight flinched back as he whimpered in slight terror. Zeero stormed into the room, his robes tattered and bloodstained, his silver hair stained to a dull rusty color. It, and the red of his angry eyes, made him look like some sort of perverse demon, and Ailonight trembled in fear. Zeero paced forward, snarling, but froze when he spotted Ailonight. He instantly calmed himself, and murmured to him, “Shouldn’t you be in bed, love?” He ran a hand through his blood-matted hair, wincing when it caught on a tangled strand. Ailonight smiled at him, hesitantly, but still sweetly. Zeero felt himself melt, and said, “I thought so. But I guess that I knew you wouldn’t sleep well while I was fighting in that hellhole. Well, onto a more pleasant topic, I guess I need a bath.” Zeero paused, especially when Ailonight wandered forward and started to remove his formals. “Baby, what’re you doing? Do you want to accompany me to the bath?” Ailonight nodded, his almond eyes lighting with hope. He shifted forward and nuzzled softly against Zeero’s neck, a foreign emotion slowly taking hold of Zeero. “You missed me, Ai?” His voice was astonished, and Ailonight nodded miserably. Zeero shifted slightly until he was tenderly cradling his lover against him. “Well then, why don’t you help me bathe?” Ailonight, now grinning, pulled back, grasping Zeero by the hand, and backed slowly into the bathing chamber, where he gently pressed Zeero into the bath. Zeero hissed as the warm water hit his tense muscles, and smiled when Ailonight crawled in next to him. Zeero found his eyes sliding shut as his lover and servant’s soft hands began to run a warm, wet cloth over his skin, and cascade warm water softly through his hair. Later, Zeero couldn’t have said when, Ailonight shifted until he was leaning heavily against him. “Love, shouldn’t we get to bed, then?” Zeero murmured tenderly in his ear, and Ailonight nodded slowly, before standing.

With little more than a thought, the bathing pool was dry, and so were they. Zeero found himself dressed in his own silken nightclothes, and Ailonight himself wore soft cotton pajamas. “That’s better, isn’t it, love? Come on, then, let’s head to bed.” Zeero lifted Ailonight into his arms, and walked slowly towards their bed, carrying his burden gently. Ailonight murmured something softly, unintelligibly, and Zeero nodded agreeably before carefully dumping him into the bed. He crawled in next to his servant, and wrapped him in a tight embrace. Ailonight stiffened, but Zeero cradled him gently and murmured soothing apologies to him. It didn’t take much, and Ailonight relaxed into a light sleep, his almond eyes closing reluctantly. Zeero kissed his beloved softly on the lips, then closed his own eyes. It’s odd; I have absolutely no desire to make love to him tonight... I wonder why...But that was all the thought that Zeero had time for before his own rebellious eyes slid shut, and he blanked out into a deep sleep.

aa

Jasphri stood at the door to his sons’ room, watching Zeero and Ailonight sleep, curled close together. He shook his head, fighting off the brief pang of jealousy, and wandered off, further into the Master Temple, the temple which housed all of the Gods. As he wandered, he wondered vaguely how Zeero would react if he knew that Ailonight was his brother, but waved telling Zeero off as a very bad idea. Ailonight wouldn’t be able to survive without Zeero, and Jasphri wasn’t entirely certain that his High Priest would remain sane without his servant, so telling them was simply out of the question.

As he wandered away, Jasphri couldn’t help but notice the soft sobs coming from one of the private rooms of the Temple, one of the ones belonging to a certain God of Love. His eyes narrowed, because he knew the wounded sobs could only have been caused by one thing, as did anybody who remained in the temple long enough. Oh yes, Lucien was incapacitated quite frequently by his own heartache.

Jasphri walked into the room, not bothering to knock, and sighed heavily when he saw his youngest, sweetest nephew curled into a tiny ball on the floor, sobbing helplessly into his own arms. “Lucien, Lucien, what has he done to you this time?” The question was purely rhetorical, for he knew full well that Meros had turned Lucien down once again. He tugged on his hair in frustration, wishing he didn’t have to deal with this, then crossed the room swiftly and tugged Lucien into his arms. “Why must you do this to yourself?”

Lucien clung to him, desperate for the physical contact, and sobbing heartbrokenly, but barely managed to gasp out the response, “You wouldn’t understand!” before wailing and burying his head in Jasphri’s shoulder. Jasphri thought of his twin sons for a second, thinking that he most definitely did understand. Not that he would ever dare to contradict the broken hearted deity clinging to him. “He...he keeps turning me away!” Lucien jerked away from Jasphri and stumbled over to his bed, falling into it with an agonized whine.

Jasphri sighed, trying to fight his exasperation with the desperate deity in front of him. He slowly wandered over and sat next to Lucien, gently running a hand through the long, fine strands of blue silk that made up his hair, and murmured, “Lucien, your father is the God of Death. He’s got no room in his life for the things you embody, love, light, and sweetness. I know that it hurts you every time he rejects you, or doesn’t notice you, but you must understand where he’s coming from. And I most definitely do know exactly how you feel.” This last bit was murmured sadly, as all of the pain he’d ever felt from his love for his sons seemed to come crashing down on him all at once.

Lucien, eyes still swimming with tears, sat up and stared at his uncle. Lucien closed his eyes in slight concentration, and Jasphri felt soft, gentle, tender emotions wash over him, and he released a shuddering sigh. Lucien lifted a hand and gently tucked a strand of Jasphri’s hair behind one ear, then slowly leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to Jasphri’s lips. “You do know how I feel, don’t you?” he murmured, not pulling away entirely. He rested his forehead against Jasphri’s and opened his eyes to stare into Jasphri’s, warm affection coloring them slightly. Jasphri shuddered, unable to believe he’d just given away one of his largest secrets, and wondered what Lucien was planning, but a gentle laugh halted his thoughts. “Oh, I never would have imagined it...” Lucien kissed him once again, and whispered almost shyly, “Maybe we could be alone together, uncle?” He pressed himself into Jasphri’s lap, and hungrily kissed him. “Please? I’m so lonely...” That soft voice choked off with tears again, and Jasphri couldn’t help but respond to the heartfelt plea. He tumbled Lucien into the bed and kissed him feverishly, feeling the Love God’s powers at work all around him.

He stopped, and found the strength to gasp out his conditions. “You’re mine now, Lucien, if we do this. I’m not going to let you go, even if either of our desires changes their mind. I’m not ever going to let you go without a fight.” Jasphri pressed a kiss against the soft, sweet skin of the deity’s neck, and felt the Love God shudder beneath him.

“Oh, please, yes, Jasphri. I’m so tired of being lonely...” Lucien stared up at him, adoration slowly replacing the sadness in his soft blue eyes. “Please, don’t ever let me go. I don’t want to be alone anymore...”

“Then you won’t be...” Jasphri concentrated, and Lucien could feel the King of the Gods’ power wrapping around him, them, coursing through them both, binding the two of them together for an eternity. Never would they be able to part.

aa

Elsewhere, an insane deity watched as a town was decimated by his army, without the meddling High Priest there to stop it. He cackled, an insane and dangerous sound, and all the servants and courtiers in the room cringed in slight fear, but he simply continued cackling. Without anyone acting as the Guardian, I can do whatever I want! You just wait, you arrogant pig, I’ll take your Realm from you yet, and then I’ll be King of the Gods! The thought brought a wicked smile to his lips, and he cackled again, even as his general sacrificed the town leader to him. Thank you, Zaisha, for that. My love, return to me quickly, for I cannot wait to begin the next phase of our plans. He cackled again, even louder than before, and heard a faint scream as one of the courtiers passed out. “Remove that man from my presence, before I kill him.” Sethra laughed as loudly as he ever did as the servants quickly removed him, and the laugh turned again to an evil cackle. He could feel his army, led by his lover, turning back, headed back to their palace. It’s time to implement stage two...